North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco
The Bronco
“The twin-boom spotter that flew low and slow over Vietnam.”
North American Rockwell · military
The OV-10 was designed for the forward air controllers who found targets for the fast jets: a twin-boom turboprop with a glasshouse canopy, armed with machine guns and rockets, able to loiter for hours and operate from a road. It flew in Vietnam, Desert Storm and with the Philippine Air Force to this day. After the military, it found a second career dropping lead planes over wildfires for Cal Fire.
Cal Fire still flies OV-10 Broncos as lead planes over California wildfires, guiding the air tankers in on their drops.
Twin booms, a high tailplane joining them, and a long greenhouse canopy over a short central pod. Looks like nothing else at low altitude: the booms and the shoulder wing are unmistakable.
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Bronco from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook.
